Narrow hemmer attachment for sewing machines



Oct. 18, 1938;7 G. L. HlNMAN 2,133,700

NARROW HEMMER ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed Oct. '7,- 1936 Patented Oct. 1.8, 1938 UNITED vSTATES NARROW HEMMER. ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES George L. Hnman, New Haven, Conn., assignor to The Greist Manufacturing Company, New Haven, Conn., a corporation of ,Connecticut Application October 7, 1936, SerialNo. 104,431

5 Claims.

This invention relates to attachments for household vsewing machines, and more particularly to an attachment designed to make a hem at the edge of a piece of material. In the particu- 5 lar modification of the invention illustrated in the drawing, the attachment is designed Ito make a relatively narrow hem, although it will be understood that the principles of the invention may be applied to devices for making hems of different l widths.

In devices of this character, and particularly in the eld of so-called narrow hemmers,lsome difficulty has been encountered in sewing or stitching the hem at the proper place to bind it l to the piece of material; that is, particularly in making a narrow hem upon the piece of goods, it sometimes occurs that the line of stitching will run off the hem entirely, so that the latter will not be stitched in place. 'I'his is often due to the "7 fact that the presser bar of the sewing machine with which the attachment is used is not correctly lined up with the needle bar, and in many cases where the alignment of these two parts is' correct when the machine is rst used, the presser bar becomes displaced or moved out of alignment in the use of the machine, so that when the attachment is secured to such a displaced presser bar, the material will not be fed properly to the needle to bring the line of stitching properly upon ff" the hem. It will be noted that, as the point of attachment to the presser bar is at a considerable distance from the point at which the hem is turned, a slight displacementl of the presser bar Will effect a considerable displacement of the attachment at the point where the hem is turned.

One object of the present invention, therefore, is the provision of a hemmer attachment for sewing machines so constructed that it is capable of adjustment to bring the line of stitching or 'l 0 sewing upon the proper place on the nished hem.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a hemmer attachment for sewing machines which is capable of a lateral adjustment to insure the proper feeding of the hem to the sewing I 5 machine needle, and one in which said adjustment may be quickly and easily made without removing the attachment from the machine.`

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a hemmer attachment of the charac- 5'1 ter described, which may be of simple and economical construction and which, at the same time, will be efficient and positive in operation.v

To these and other ends the invention consists in the novel features and combinations of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a hemmer attachment for sewing machines embodying my improvements;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the attachment; J 5

Fig. 3 is a View similar to Fig. 2 showing the parts in an adjusted position; and

Fig. 4 is a sectional view Online 4 4 of Fig. 2. To illustrate a preferred embodiment of my invention I have shown a hemmer attachment l0 comprising an attaching member or shank i0 having means comprising a bifurcated, laterallyturned portion I I adapted to be secured to the presser bar (not shown) of the sewing machine, and a forwardly extending portion I2. ITo the ll portion I2 of the attaching member is pivotally secured a foot I3 by the rivet I4. This rivet also passes through one end of a relatively thin sheet metal plate I5, which overlies the foot I3 and the` inner end of which extends between the members 20 I2 and I3. Below the head of the rivet I4 is a spring washer I6 designated to hold the parts against play in operation, but at the same time permitting movement ofthe foot I3 and plate I5 relatively to the part I2 about the rivet for a pur- 25 pose to be hereinafter explained.

The plate I5 is slotted as at II, and one arm of the plate is provided with a rearwardly pointing tongue I8 disposed within this slot. The other arm I9 of the plate I5 extends forwardly 30 over a corresponding part of the footV I3 (which, as will be understood, is also provided with a slot registering with the slot I 1) and is provided with a downturned end 20 which bears against the edge of the material to serve as a guide to the cloth to guide the latter properly to the hem turning mechanism, hereinafter described. Between this arm I9 and the underlying arm of the foot I3 is secured the base portion 2I of a scroll member 22, the scroll member being spirally formed at its end and extending within the slot I'I to embrace the tongue I8, and serving to turn the cloth about the tongue IB to form the hem and guide the hem to the sewing machine needle.

The plate I5 and underlying foot I3 are pro- 45 vided with registering slots, illustrated at 23, within which operates the needle of the machine in the usual manner. As shown in Fig. 4, a pin 24 is secured to the parts I3 and I5 in a position spaced laterally from the rivet I4, the head 24a of 50 this pin standing in an opening 25 in the laterally extending portion I2 of the attaching member I0. The opening 25 is substantially larger than the head 2494 of the pin, so that a pivotal movement of the parts I3 and I5 about the rivet 55 Il will be possible within limits permitted by the engagement of the pin head 24m with the walls of the opening 25.

In Fig. 2 of the drawing, the foot and the parts of the hemmer carried thereby are shown in an intermediate position in substantial alignment with the part I2, in which position the pin head 24*L is substantially centered in the opening 25. It will be understood that in the usual type of sewing machine the material enters the hemmer from the left-hand side, as shown in this figure, the feed, of course, being longitudinally of the device, or from the bottom to the top, as here illustrated. If it is found that the stitch is running f' off the hem so that the latter is not sewed in place, the foot I3, with associated parts, may be swung to the left, or from the position shown in Fig. 2 to the position shown in full lines in Fig. 3, which will in effect move the line of stitching toward the right with relation to the hem, or closer to the edge of the goods, if, however, it is found that the stitching is too close to the edge of the goods when the device is set as shown in Fig. 2, and not close enough to the edge of the hem, the foot may be moved to the right, orto the dotted line position shown-in Fig. 3, which will have the effect of moving the line of stitching closer to the edge of the hem. It will also be true that moving the foot from ,the full line to the dotted line positions in Fig. 3 will have the effect of making a slightly wider hem so that, while the present device is not primarily an adjustable hemmer, that is, adjustable for hems of various widths, it is capable of such an adjustment within certain limits by moving the hem-forming mechanism from the full to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 3 of the drawing, or vice versa.

It will be obvious that there is provided by the invention illustrated a very simple and inexpen- 'sive hemmer attachment, which is Vcapable of being adjusted to effect the line of stitching at the proper place upon the hem, and also capable of being adjusted to effect a variation within limits of the width of the hem secured.

While I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that vit is not to be limited to all of the details shown, but is capable of modification and variation within the spirit of the invention and z within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A hemmer attachment for sewing machines comprising a shank having a horizontally disposed portion, a foot member pivotally secured to the lower face of said portion for pivotal movement with respect thereto, hem-turning mechanism carried by said foot member, said mechanism including a plate portionv extending between said shank and foot members and there secured to the foot member.

2. A hemmer attachment for sewing machines comprising a shank having a horizontally disposed portion, a foot member, means for pivotally securing said member to the lower face of said portion for pivotal movement with respect thereto, hem-turning mechanism carried by said foot member, said mechanism including a plate portion extending between said shank and foot members and secured to the latter by said pivotal securing means.

3. In a sewing machine, a foot, a hem-turning mechanism carried by said foot, means for attaching said foot to a sewing machine, means pivotally securing the foot to said attaching means for pivotal movement relatively thereto, means'for limiting the relative movement of said parts, and said securing means and said limiting means also serving to secure a part of said hemturning mechanism to said foot.

4. A hemmer attachment for sewing machines comprising a shank member adapted to be attached to the presser bar of a sewing machine and having a horizontally disposed portion at its lower end, a foot member pivotally secured to said portion, hem-turning mechanism carried by said foot member, said mechanism comprising a relatively thin sheet metal plate secured to the foot member and projecting forwardly therefrom and carrying hem-turning mechanism on its forward end.

5. A hemming attachment for sewing machines comprising a foot part, a shank adapted to be secured to the presser bar of a sewing machine, means for pivotally attaching said foot part to said shank, a member secured to said foot part and extending forwardly therefrom, a hem-turning mechanism on the extended end of said member whereby said hem-turning mechanism is pivotally adjustable relative to the presserl bar to vary the width of the formed hem.

GEORGE L. HINMAN. 

